Haven’t been very active recently – apologies. I had an essay due followed by a take-home exam, then I rebuilt my little macbook to the latest version (OS X Mavericks) and had to reinstall Lightroom etc… and this week I’ve been a little under the weather, so I haven’t shot anywhere near as much as I would have liked!

I’ve been extremely happy with my Leica M9-P since I purchased it last year after selling my Canon 5d Mk II and lenses and accessories. The only thing I wish was better was the low-light performance, as noise really starts to be a problem from ISO 800-1600 onwards. I did a bit of research and recently bought a Sony RX1 – the world’s smallest full-frame camera, which comes with a fixed 35mm f/2 Zeiss lens. Here is a pic of the new baby:

Sony RX1

I will primarily be using it at night time when I would typically not shoot at all after putting the M9-P away. I’ve only shot with it for two days, but so far let me say a couple of things… First, battery life sucks. I have it set to sleep after 20 seconds of inactivity and I still ran out in less than a day’s shooting (~100 shots). Secondly, I’m finding it odd using the LCD to shoot. “It’s not you RX1, it’s me!” ha I’m just so used to the rangefinder and zone focusing – I actually find that method faster for taking photos than using the LCD and autofocus on the Sony. I wish I could easily zone-focus with the RX1 and hopefully they will allow something like that in a firmware update. I know there is an optional electronic viewfinder (EVF) for the RX1, but due to the fact that it sits in the hotshoe – i.e. right in the centre of the camera – it tends to draw unwanted attention to it which is the opposite of what you want on the street, so I’ll see how I go with the LCD! The 35mm f/2 Zeiss lens is incredibly sharp. Auto white balance seems to be OK. Menu is easy to navigate. The camera itself is very well made and very small in size – impressively so given it is a full-frame sensor. Great dynamic range. Significant flexibility in post-processing to recover shadow detail. Here are a few RX1 pics: